An unbreakable spirit

Education advocate

Dreaming of going back to school, Wang taught himself at the rehabilitation center, despite his demanding physical schedule. Sometimes he read on his stomach while undergoing acupuncture.

To improve his memory, which was also damaged by a brain injury caused by the accident, he recited English words repeatedly until he could remember them by heart. At first, he would forget what he had learned just hours later and had to start all over again the following morning.

In those days, he viewed life like a marathon. No matter how slow he walked, he could make progress every day, and if there were roadblocks, he found a way to negotiate the barriers. His family, therapists, doctors and other patients around him were all his teachers.

With extraordinary perseverance and solid faith in himself, he passed the exam and went to Norway to attend UWC Red Cross Nordic, a life-changing experience as he put it, before completing his undergraduate and postgraduate studies in economics at the University of Oslo.

There, he developed another dream, that of setting up a UWC school on the Chinese mainland to introduce an inclusive, intercultural learning environment and promote mutual understanding between youngsters from various cultures.

Fifteen years after Wang-with just $200 in his pocket-had expressed the idea to Macoun on his graduation day, UWC Changshu China was founded in its namesake city in East China's Jiangsu province in 2015.

So far, the school has welcomed more than 1,700 students and graduates from 124 countries and regions. It had provided a total scholarship of 280 million yuan ($44 million) for around 700 students by 2021, including those with physical challenges or from disadvantaged backgrounds.